How to Prepare a Food Product for Sanitary Processing

Getting a food product to market and keeping it there depends a lot on sanitation. You will need to handle food processing sanitation with diligence, and that requires some thought in terms of both systems and preserving the quality of the product. If you're moving into the food sanitation planning phase for a product, you should prepare by addressing these four concerns.

Regulatory Requirements

A lot of the sanitation issue boils down to compliance with government rules. You need to know what the rules are because these establish acceptable tolerances for the process. If a proposed sanitation solution won't make it past the first inspection, then you want to address it during the planning phase when the expense is low rather than during the implementation phase.

Work with lawyers, regulators, engineers and food scientists to learn what the requirements will be. Build these into an ironclad set of planning documents so everyone involved will understand what's at stake.

Product Quality and Stability

For most products, the item has to survive food processing sanitation without ruining its quality or stability. This will affect the food sanitation methods you'll employ.

For example, it might be easier from a cleaning standpoint to use steam heat to clear clogs for manufacturing systems. However, that could create problems with residual heat that could affect food quality if you resume production too soon afterward. Whether you would use steam heat or not will depend on whether it's the most efficient way to safely get the process moving again without adversely affecting quality and stability. If not, you may have to explore alternatives until you find an approach that works well.

Team Engagement

Food sanitation has to be a priority for everyone involved with the process. Down to the folks sweeping the floors, everyone has a role in keeping the public safe. Use the planning documents to develop a training regimen that will guide employees and stakeholders in applying the process. Provide ongoing training to ensure existing employees and managers understand the food sanitation expectations, too. Have a process in place so team members can raise concerns early and reduce the potential risk to the public and the company's reputation.

Monitoring

You can't depend on establishing a process and then letting it run. Monitor the systems, people and processes to ensure standards are holding up. Over time, equipment, regulations and employees will change. You and the public want to know your food sanitation standards will remain dependable over many years of manufacturing.

For more info, reach out to a company such as Sanixperts Inc.

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